"Policies and Training Empowers Staff and Management to Act"
Preliminary findings from the Patron-Perpetrated Sexual Harassment (PPSH) Policies and Procedures Survey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29173/cais1919Keywords:
sexual harassment, public libraries, policyAbstract
Library workers across Canada view library policy, training, and reporting as important interventions to prevent and address patron-perpetrated sexual harassment (PPSH). A nation-wide survey indicates that Canadian public libraries vary widely in their development and usage of PPSH policies, procedures, and training. While 40% of libraries surveyed have PPSH policies, 78% have patron codes of conduct and 74% have policies that address workplace violence, harassment & discrimination. Only 26% of participating libraries offer staff PPSH specific training. Of the 69% of participating libraries who had formal incident reporting processes, only 13% list sexual harassment as a reporting option. More positively, findings demonstrate a strong interest by participants to address PPSH in their workplaces.
« Les politiques et la formation autorisent les employés et la direction à agir » : Résultats préliminaires des sondages portant sur les politiques et les procédures sur le harcèlement sexuel perpétré par les usagers (HSPU)
Résumé
Les employés de bibliothèque à travers le Canada voient les politiques de la bibliothèque, la formation et le signalement comme des interventions importantes pour prévenir et résourdre le harcèlement sexuel perpétré par les usagers (HSPU). Un sondage national indique que les bibliothèques publiques canadiennes varient beaucoup par rapport à leur développement et leur usage de politiques, de procédures et de formation HSPU. Bien que 40% des bibliothèques sondées ont des politiques HSPU, 78% ont des codes de conduite pour les usagers et 74% ont des politiques sur la violence au travail, le harcèlement et la discrimination. Seulement 26% des bibliothèques participantes offrent des formations spécifiques au HSPU. Du 69% des bibliothèques participantes qui ont un processus de signalement d'incident, seulement 13% comportent le harcèlement sexuel comme option lors du signalement. Sur une note plus positive, les résultats montrent un grand intérêt des participants à résoudre le HSPU dans leur milieu de travail.
Mots-clés
Harcèlement sexuel; Bibliothèques publiques; Politiques
References
Allard, D., Lieu, A, & Oliphant, T. (2020). Reading between the lines: An environmental scan of writing about third-party sexual harassment in the LIS literature and beyond. Library Quarterly, 90(4), 412-430
Allard, D., Oliphant, T., Lieu, A. (2023). Finding a Way To Say ‘No’”: Library Employees’ Responses to Sexual Harassment as Emotional Labour. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 61(1), 31-40.
Barr-Walker, J., Hoffner, C., McMunn-Tetangco, E., & Mody, N. (2021). Sexual harassment at University of California libraries: Understanding the experiences of library staff members. College & Research Libraries, 82(2), 237-266.
Burrell, D. N., Morin, S. L., Wansi, T., Mathis, V. B., Ninassi, C., and Ninassi, S. (2014). Challenges of corporate misconduct: The organizational, social, economic, and financial dynamics of workplace sexual harassment in the restaurant industry in the USA. SocioEconomic Challenges, 8(4), 2520-614.
Civitello, A,. & McLain, K. (2017). It’s not just part of the job: Speaking out about sexual harassment. ILA Reporter, 35(6), 4-7. https://www.ila.org/publications/ila-reporter/article/75/
deMayo, R. A. (1997). Patient sexual behavior and sexual harassment: A national survey of female psychologists.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28 (1), 58–62.
Eaton, D. E. (2004). Beyond room service: Legal consequences of sexual harassment of staff by hotel guests. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 45(4), 347-361. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1177/0010880404270064
Fine, L. M., Shepherd, C. D., & Josephs, S. L. (1999). Insights into sexual harassment of salespeople by customers: The role of gender and customer power. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 19(2), 19–34.
Finnis, S. J., Robbins I., & Bender, M. P. (1993). A pilot study of the prevalence and psychological sequelae of sexual harassment of nursing staff. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 2(1), 23–27. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1111/j.1365-2702.1993.tb00126.x
Fitzgerald, L. F. (2017). Still the last great open secret: Sexual harassment as systemic trauma. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 18(4), 483–89.
Good, L., & Cooper, R. (2016). “But It’s your job to be friendly”: Employees coping with and contesting sexual harassment from customers in the service sector. Gender, Work & Organization, 23(5), 447–469. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1111/gwao.12117
Hughes, K. D., & Tadic, V. (1998). “Something to deal with”: Customer sexual harassment and women’s retail service work in Canada. Gender, Work & Organization, 5(4), 207–19. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1111/1468-0432.00058
Kensbock, S., Bailey, J., Jennings, G., & Patiar, A. (2015). Sexual harassment of women working as room attendants within 5-star hotels. Gender, Work & Organization, 22(1), 36–50. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1111/gwao.12064
MacBride, K. (2018, January). #TimesUp on harassing your public librarian. Shondaland. https://www.shondaland.com/act/a15876574/timesup-on-harassing-your-public-librarian/
Oliphant, T., Allard, D., Lieu, A., & Mallach, K. (2021). Naming patron-perpetrated sexual harassment in libraries. Proceedings of 2021 Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS) annual conference.
Perry, E. L., Kulik, C. T., & Field, M. P. (2024). Sexual harassment training: Recommendations to address gaps between the practitioner and research literatures. Human Resource Management, 48(5), 817-837.
Poulston, J. (2008). Metamorphosis in hospitality: A tradition of sexual harassment. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(2), 232-240. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1016/j.ijhm.2007.07.013
Reese, L. A. & Lindenberg, K. E. 1999. Implementing sexual harassment policy: Challenges for the public sector workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Von Stackelberg, A. (2018). Sexual harassment by library patrons: #TimesUp.” BCLA Perspectives, 10(1), retrieved from: https://bclaconnect.ca/perspectives/2018/03/02/sexual-harassment-by-library-patrons-timesup/.
Xiao, Y., Liu, L., & Zhang, Z. (2024). Safeguarding healthcare professionals from sexual harassment in the workplace: Urgent need for effective training and education. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 100(1185), 516-518.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Danielle Allard, Tami Oliphant

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


